NBC adds plenty of comedy to drama for Fall 2019 lineup

NBC is ready to get back to a comedy heavy Thursday night after having so much drama, and below is the Fall 2019 schedule to see what’s new and what’s returning.

NBC didn’t
invoke its “must-see TV” 20th-century marketing slogan in announcing a renewed
emphasis on sitcoms next season, but it could have.

Calling comedy the “heart”
of its brand, the network announced it is adding four new sitcoms to its lineup
for 2019-20, with stars including Kenan Thompson of “Saturday Night Live” and
sitcom veterans Fran Drescher (“The Nanny”) and Steven Weber (“Mom,” ″Wings”).

On Thursday night, where
NBC sitcoms including “Cheers” and “Friends” ruled back in the 1980s and ’90s,
the network will introduce newcomers “Perfect Harmony” and “Sunnyside” to join
returning comedies “Superstore” and “The Good Place” this fall.

“Thursdays will continue
to be the home of the smartest, buzziest and most enduring comedies on
television,” George Cheeks, who is co-chair with Paul Telegdy of NBC
Entertainment, said with bravado.

“Perfect Harmony” stars
Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”) as a former college music professor whose
next chapter unexpectedly involves a small-town church’s choir.

In “Sunnyside,” Kal Penn
calls on his comedic credits (“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”) and
political ones (he served in the Obama administration) to play a fallen New
York City councilman who’s seeking redemption for himself and help for immigrants
dreaming of American citizenship.

Thompson will do
double-duty at NBC next season, sticking with “SNL” and starring in “The Kenan
Show,” with Chris Rock among the executive producers. In the midseason series,
Thompson plays a dedicated dad balancing family, work and a meddling
father-in-law played by Andy Garcia.

Drescher and Weber star in
“Indebted,” also for midseason. They play what NBC called “boomerang parents”
who, broke and unannounced, move back in with their son and daughter-in-law.

The long network afterlife
of “Friends” and other sitcoms makes them valuable now and in the future for
its makers, which for “Sunnyside” and “The Kenan Show” include NBC corporate
sibling Universal Television.

NBC kicked off the
broadcast networks’ presentation of their new schedules to advertisers in New
York this week. The network said it’s working from a position of ratings
strength but, acknowledging the rising competition from streaming platforms
such as Netflix, said shows that begin on the network will have a critical
digital afterlife.

What To Expect From NBC 2019 – 2020

MORE ‘THIS IS US,’ MORE DRAMA

The popular drama’s return
wasn’t in doubt, but NBC cemented its value to the network by renewing it for
what it called an “unprecedented” three more years.

Whether it will continue
beyond season six is “open for right now,” said Paul Telegdy, who is co-chair
with George Cheeks of NBC Entertainment. Series creator Dan Fogelman “has a
plan for the show,” but Telegdy wouldn’t tip his hand as to whether that plan
will mean even more years with the Pearson family.

“This Is Us” will return
in the fall, but fans of some NBC shows, including “Manifest,” ″Will &
Grace” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” will have to wait until midseason in early
2020.

NBC executives said
they’re not worried by the challenge of drawing audience attention to
late-arriving entries.

“There is no negative to a
show being launched in midseason” given the promotional platform that “NBC
Sunday Night Football” provides from fall through winter, Telegdy said.

Four new dramas are slated
for the coming season, with one set for fall. “Bluff City Law” stars NBC alum
Jimmy Smits (“The West Wing,” ″L.A. Law”) as head of a celebrated Memphis,
Tennessee, law firm who is joined by his estranged daughter.

The midseason newcomers
include “Council of Dads,” about a family man who makes sure his brood will
always have the fatherly help they need; “Lincoln,” inspired by the novel “The
Bone Collector,” and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” about a brilliant
computer coder who’s able to eavesdrop on the hopes of those around her through
her songs.

‘LITTLE BIG SHOTS’ MAKEOVER

Steve Harvey is out and
Melissa McCarthy is in as host of what NBC is describing as a revamp of the
talent showcase for kids.

“It’s a real refresh for a
brand that has done very well for us, Telegdy said. McCarthy is “an incredible
comedian” who will bring a fresh perspective to the series, he said.

McCarthy, who made a
splash on “Saturday Night Live” playing then-White House Press Secretary Sean
Spicer and starred in the CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly,” juggles her TV work
with a busy big-screen career that included an Oscar nomination for the film
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

STILL ON THE BUBBLE

While “I Feel Bad” is
living up to its title and won’t be back on NBC, there’s still hope for the
series “Abby’s,” ″A.P. Bio,” ″The Village” and “The Enemy Within.”

They’re yet to be renewed,
and NBC is taking a wait-and-see attitude as they finish out this season.

“The next season’s schedule is fluid,” Cheeks said. “We want to give those shows a chance to fulfill their run, and then we’ll take another look at them again. We program 52 weeks a year, so there are a lot of TBD (to be determined) slots.”

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